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Conference Spotlight
2025 ANS Winter Conference & Expo
November 9–12, 2025
Washington, DC|Washington Hilton
Standards Program
The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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Nuclear Science and Engineering
September 2025
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October 2025
Latest News
Shifting the paradigm of supply chain
Chad Wolf
When I began my nuclear career, I was coached up in the nuclear energy culture of the day to “run silent, run deep,” a mindset rooted in the U.S. Navy’s submarine philosophy. That was the norm—until Fukushima.
The nuclear renaissance that many had envisioned hit a wall. The focus shifted from expansion to survival. Many utility communications efforts pivoted from silence to broadcast, showcasing nuclear energy’s elegance and reliability. Nevertheless, despite being clean baseload 24/7 power that delivered a 90 percent capacity factor or higher, nuclear energy was painted as risky and expensive (alongside energy policies and incentives that favored renewables).
Economics became a driving force threatening to shutter nuclear power. The Delivering the Nuclear Promise initiative launched in 2015 challenged the industry to sustain high performance yet cut costs by up to 30 percent.
Xuelong Fu, Jie Tao, Dunwen Zuo
Nuclear Science and Engineering | Volume 194 | Number 1 | January 2020 | Pages 69-83
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295639.2019.1654328
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
B4C/CF/PI/AA6061 hybrid composite laminates (BCPAs) with different configurations were fabricated using a hot molding process and then were irradiated by a 60Co gamma ray with various doses (250, 500, 750, and 1000 kGy) under ambient conditions. The effects of gamma irradiation on the morphological, physical, and thermal properties of the BCPAs were evaluated correspondingly. It was shown that the specimens maintained good interfacial adhesion even after gamma irradiation up to 1000 kGy and that no obvious delamination, swelling, and surface irradiation damage could be observed. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy of the BCPAs after gamma irradiation indicated no obvious discrepancy when compared with that of nonirradiated specimens. The specimens still maintained good thermal stability with the experimental temperature up to 400°C. When the specimens were gamma irradiated with the dose of 750 kGy, the thermal stability of the BCPAs was optimal. Polyimide resin under gamma irradiation was inclined to form free radicals close to each other and underwent radiation decomposition, a chain scission and cross-linking reaction, and a secondary cross-linking reaction. By analyzing the C-C bond, C-O bond, and C = O bond in the C1s spectrum, the relative intensity of the C = O bond decreased with the irradiation dose; moreover, gamma irradiation caused the decomposition of a certain amount of the oxygen functional group C = O.
